There’s a saying: “you are who your friends are.” This is insightful in several ways—first, because we tend to choose friends who are like us; and second, because who we spend time with shapes our thoughts, perceptions, opinions, and goals. Motivational speaker Jim Rohn said it well: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” This insight only highlights just how important it is for you to have a trustworthy, supportive group to help your practice grow, much like the Mastermind group we offer here at Top Practices.

The Positive and Negative Influence of Others

Whether you realize (or want) it or not, the people who are closest to you shape you. They influence your goals, your thoughts, your opinions, and your desires, for good or for bad. Even simple moods or attitudes can dramatically affect you. Think about it: how many times has hanging around a friend or a coworker who was in a bad mood really put a damper on your day? And that’s just the effect of people who are physically near you. It’s even stronger when it’s someone you really trust or love. Their opinions, thoughts, and desires can more directly influence the choices you make in your daily life and in your practice.

Surrounding Yourself with Good People

This is why who you choose to surround yourself with and to listen to really matters. When it comes to pursuing your goals and trying to grow your practice, you want to be around and supported by others who are like you in their dedication and their drive. You need other medical professionals in your life that you can really trust who are also trying to grow. Spending time with other professionals who only whine about how hard it is to practice medicine in today’s world and never make changes to meet those challenges that inevitably come up will only drag you down.

Now, this doesn’t mean you avoid people who disagree with you sometimes, or who are willing to challenge and critique you. Surrounding yourself only with people who say and think the exact same things won’t help you grow. You’ll only stagnate. What it does mean is that you trust in and build professional and mentoring relationships with other professionals who are as hardworking and goal-oriented as you are. Their different ideas and willingness to push you to grow will help you move forward.

Top Practices Mastermind Group

At Top Practices, we recognize the need for medical professionals to be able to meet with those kinds of people you can trust and rely on. We also know how hard it can be, especially in a field that can become so competitive and filled with a negative outlook towards private practice. That’s part of why we put so much emphasis on our Mastermind group. Some of the best ideas and growth we’ve seen among our doctors have come from sharing and encouragement within the Mastermind program. You can’t control the attitudes of the people who are around you. You can, however, control who you spend time with and grow with professionally—so choose a group like our Mastermind program that you know you can trust.

Whether or not the Top Practices Mastermind Group is right for you depends entirely on you. If you are looking to make real changes to your practice, learn from others, and share your experiences, then we are happy to have you. We love joining together medical professionals who are passionate about their practices and making them grow. But if you’re just looking for someone to tell you what to do or find a shortcut to marketing success, this isn’t the place to look. Nowhere is. Check out our application today or contact us for more information about the Mastermind group and how to join. You can e-mail us at [email protected] or call (717) 725-2679.